PREFACE. 
The successful cultivation of the honey bee, depends upon a 
correct knowledge of the laws by which the economy of the 
hive is regulated ; comply with these laws and you reap a golden 
harvest — disregard them and disappointment and loss are the 
certain result. 
The following pages are designed to impart : 
1st. A knowledge of these laws. 
2d. Instruction how to comply with their requirements. 
3d. Caution against their violation. 
To accomplish these ends we have endeavored: 
1st. To bring the language within the comprehension of the 
man of limited education and means, to whom bee-keeping com- 
mends itself on account of its large pecuniary returns for the 
capital and attention required. 
2d. To present the practical part of the subject fully and yet 
briefly, believing, as w.e do, that condensation, to the greatest 
possible extent consistent with a full exposition of the subject, 
not only diminishes the cost but increases the value of a work of 
this kind. 
3d. To convey the most valuable knowledge, we have drawn 
from every available source, not having been ambitious to write 
a work purely original. Yet, as theories are worthless unless 
